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'Phishing' Becomes 'Whaling' As E-Mail Scams Go After Corporate Execs

by Tim Stevens on April 16, 2008 at 09:34 AM

Phishers Aim Bigger, Start Whaling

What do you call it when phishers, people who trick people with official looking e-mails, start aiming for bigger targets? Whaling, apparently, as that's the new term being applied to a particular breed of phisher that is going after corporate executives, adding a new angle to the traditional fake e-mail scam.

The new phishing e-mail appears to be from the United States District Court in San Diego. It indicates that if you click on a link, you'll get the full subpoena, but, of course, what you'll actually get is some malware, software that runs in the background capturing passwords and other information you'd rather were kept private.

So, regardless of your pay grade, make sure you watch what you click on when reading e-mails. Oh, and you might want to tell your secretary to do the same.

From the New York Times

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, malware, phishing, security, whaling

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